Nelson v. Musgrave
Supreme Court of Missouri
APPEAL from Pulaski Circuit Court. 1. If the demurrer to the defendant’s special plea was sustained, judgment should have been, •rendered for him, as the .declaration does not contain any cause of action. 2. If the demurrer was overruled, the plea stood unanswered, and judgment of non pros should have been entered against the plaintiff; at all events if the court should presume that the demur-, •rer was overruled, it is evident that-it-was improperly overruled, as the…
Read the full summary
APPEAL from Pulaski Circuit Court. 1. If the demurrer to the defendant’s special plea was sustained, judgment should have been, •rendered for him, as the .declaration does not contain any cause of action. 2. If the demurrer was overruled, the plea stood unanswered, and judgment of non pros should have been entered against the plaintiff; at all events if the court should presume that the demur-, •rer was overruled, it is evident that-it-was improperly overruled, as the declaration -is bad. 1. The plea is bad. This will not‘be denied. 2. The declaration is sufficient, the letter being libellous.
1Opinion of the CourtNapton, J.
This was an action for a libel, alleged to have been written by Nelson,, in a letter addressed to some one in the State of Tennessee. The libellous words charged, were as follows: “He (the plaintiff,) is thought no-more of than a counterfeiter, a horse thief, a liar and a false swearer; he keeps had company; he has no neighbors here. I have his character from Illinois in black and white, assigned by thirty-one good citizens that knew him in that country, and could of had a hundred, and is worse there than here if possible.”
The defendant pleaded not guilty, and a special plea of justification.…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Walker v. WinnMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1811
3Cited by22 opinions
- Morse v. Times-Republican Printing Co.Supreme Court of Iowa · 1904
- Minter v. Bradstreet Co.Supreme Court of Missouri · 1903
- Mitchell v. Bradstreet Co.Supreme Court of Missouri · 1893
- Prewitt v. WilsonSupreme Court of Iowa · 1905
- Ukman v. Daily Record Co.Supreme Court of Missouri · 1905
17 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.